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GMAT: 760 Q50 V44GPA: Political Science 2.8, well regarded NY city public universityWork experience: 1.5 years CPA firm - sales role, 2 years in health-care marketing roleBackground: I am a white male, age 24. I don't really have any stellar extracurriculars.

Up until 6 months ago, I had been dealing with a circumstance that has limited my ability to develop a more attractive profile. I have a very valid reason for my low gpa and plan on addressing this in the optional essay.That said, I am interested in pursuing a marketing MBA in the east coast. I have been looking at the following schools and was hoping I could get some feedback in regards to which are more oriented towards marketing and what my chances are of admission, if any.

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08 Feb 2010, 23:33

you would need to wow them with an awesome narrative/story in your essays... i see that you have a very high verbal score; maybe also somehow show them that your quant skills are up to par (even though that decent quant score may counter the low GPA, you should still consider taking some hard-core stats/upper-level math courses to fill in some gaps in your application)... other than that, i say it comes down to answering the more qualitative part of your application: why now, why mba, what are your career goals, why this particular school, show your "fit", etc.
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09 Feb 2010, 08:08

Danny,

Your case reminds me of another guy here on GMAT FORUM: DrSatisfaction has posted on his experience with a 1.9 GPA and strong GMAT like yours. He was dinged w/o interview at all top US schools but accepted to INSEAD and Oxford. (I would post a link to his post, but apparently GmatForum needs me to be a member for 5 days to do that.)

So, I would guess your chances at the top schools are slim, esp in the 3rd round. But your mids are good. Why not throw in a couple foreign schools? (Although INSEAD might be out of your league due to work exp.)

Of course, you could always wait a year or two and build up some good extra curricular experience. If you don't get admitted this time around, don't get discouraged - you are on the low end of work exp and age. You have plenty of time, imo.

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09 Feb 2010, 08:34

Thanks guys. I appreciate the replys. It just occurred to me that I reversed my quant and verbal scores when I initially posted. Just corrected it: 760 V44 Q50.I'll try to look up "DrSatisfaction." I will keep the foreign schools as an option.

Can you tell me which among the schools that I've posted, or otherwise, are known for having a solid marketing program?

Also, is there backlash to applying and getting dinged if you wanted to apply again sometime in the future?

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09 Feb 2010, 09:32

Thinking of schools other than the ones you identified, Fuqua has a very well-respected marketing program and very-influential behaviorial economics/marketing professors. I'm 760/2.9 and was invited to interview in Durham for R2, so you have a shot there.

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You can click on individual schools to see the middle 80% or middle 75% ranges as well as selectivity rankings. It's a good place to start if you're looking to identify places where you just miss/make the range. 760/2.8 would generally be highest decile GMAT (or very close to it), lowest decile GPA at most top and mid-range schools.

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"How selective are Carnegie Mellon and Fuqua compared to NYU and Columbia?"

I was hoping to benefit from potential applicants perspectives.

to get more details about the specific schools, you might be better off reading through the specific schools' threads in the B-School Application subforum first.

in general terms, Columbia and NYU are more selective than Tepper (Carnegie Mellon) and Fuqua. You can browse through the statistics for yourself in the businessweek comparator link.

you mentioned that you worked in a health care marketing role. fuqua might be a really good fit for you, since they are known to have one of the best healthcare programs in the country. if you focus your essays for fuqua around this, and how you think the MBA will help you progress your career within this field, you would probably have a good shot at getting in.

i think that you would best be served applying very early in the game next year as opposed to trying to squeeze in an app in R3 this year. you have a very favorable GMAT score that can help to address any concerns about your low GPA (and you mentioned you had another reason for the low GPA, so this would also help). you also have time on your side, as 24 years old is still fairly young in the business school world.
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11 Feb 2010, 01:07

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i would agree. wait until next year, and use the time between now and then to start doing some extracurricular activities that will round out your profile. ideally you can do something that helps the community AND your career goals. for example, maybe you could find a health-related non-profit and help them do some fundraising work for free. Then you can spin that work as practice running a "marketing campaign" in the health sector. This would give you a great leadership experience, a good extracurricular, and is relevant to your career goals and will help you get into the best school possible. Win-win-win for your career and for the non-profit.

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11 Feb 2010, 10:43

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Applying in the third round to the top schools can be a long shot. However, you can still try those mid-tier and safety schools you listed.

An important reason for our recommendation to apply for some schools in the third round is that you need substantial period of time to think and rethink why you need an MBA and what you plan to do after it since the essays ask for very detailed answers and you need to establish a convincing case. Through this process, you will find you learn a great deal about yourself, which may lead you to change your application strategy or career plan sometimes. Meantime, through the process, you are getting everything ready for applying for the first round or early decision round at the top schools, should you decide later this year. It allows you more time to polish your applications for the top schools and refine your career goals.

> The main 3 metrics I'm attempting to judge by are, average GPA, starting salary and % with offers at graduation. Any assistance and/or suggestions would be much appreciated.MR: Regarding this, we have to know all the details about your past experiences and future plan such as marketing in which industries and which aspects of the marketing. Plus the job market is less predictable at this point two years from now on. So it is crucial that your post-MBA career plan is realistic with multiple back-up scenarios.

Many of our admissions consultants are ex admissions committee members. You can find out a wealth of information per school and free seminars on our website. Feel free to email us directly for more prompt replies.
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11 Feb 2010, 19:08

ManhattanReview, thanks for the advice. It's interesting that an exercise in applying can potentially lead to self-discovery. From what I garner you are recommending forgoing applying to any top programs in the third round. My question is suppose I apply to some 2nd tier programs and happen to get accepted. I visualize a "now what"?

I have reaching out to professors in the Economics department at my Alma mater. I am getting the same feedback so far as most of you have provided. 'Sure I can apply and roll the dice, after all it never hurts to apply,' but ultimately I may benefit a lot more from trying to secure more work experience to further develop my profile at which point I may have a shot at some of the top programs.

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28 Mar 2010, 10:04

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If you get into those second-tier schools on your list, there is also a chance that you may be offered a scholarship or asked to submit a separate application for scholarship. So it may change your decision-making factors again.

Just a quick note. We are adding the following new admissions consulting services within the next two weeks: 1) Harvard 2+2 Dedicated Pack; 2) Analysis of Unsuccessful Application; 3) Scholarship Application Review; 4) Waitlist/Deferral Strategy Consultation; 5) Re-application Strategy Consultation.

Any more specific questions, just email admissions@manhattanreview.com directly for a faster and more in-depth response. Include your full contact info there for easy reference. Thanks.
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